Section: US & Canada

Of the hundreds of prisoners of war captured during the nearly yearlong fighting in eastern Ukraine, only one was mentioned by name on the agenda of world leaders at peace talks in Minsk, Belarus: Nadiya V. Savchenko, a former lieutenant… …read more Source: Ukrainian Diaspora in Canada and...

Thanks to determined diplomacy by Germany and France, Russia agreed Wednesday to a new cease-fire in Ukraine, to begin Sunday. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel was anything but triumphant, calling the deal a mere “glimmer of hope” for peace…. …read more Source: The...

ARTEMIVSK, Ukraine (AP) — There’s no sign of a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine — where hostilities are supposed to end over the weekend under a peace plan worked out this week in Belarus. Russian-backed separatists have mounted a sustained offensive to capture a strategic railway hub ahead of the truce. Officials say at least 25 people were...

Paris (AFP) – France basked Friday in the “historic” first foreign sale of its Rafale fighter jet to Egypt in a contract clinched in a breakneck three months, despite criticism over rights abuses by Cairo.For Paris the 5.2 billion euro ($5.9 billion) sale is a rare triumph after six failed attempts to export its flagship...

High-level negotiations in Minsk have just produced a new ceasefire in the war in Ukraine. Few believe that the agreement will hold for long. But even if it does, the Western powers are showing little inclination to make efforts to roll back the separatist enclave in the beleaguered country’s east. Russia, meanwhile, shows no real sign of...

For most of the West, Vladimir Putin is a bogeyman. His love affair with the thuggish separatists in eastern Ukraine has blotched his image across the democratic world. In November, he had to slink away prematurely from the G20 Summit in Australia after he was snubbed by just about every leader who counted. Yet the reception he got during his...

After tense, all-night negotiations on Wednesday, European leaders reached a shaky deal with Russia for a ceasefire in Ukraine. That didn’t stop the violence, and many doubt a ceasefire can hold. Here are the five reasons showing that even if Russia has it bad, Ukraine has it worse: 1. Abysmal economics The Russian economy nearly entered...

A group of Russian students has rejected the Kremlin’s narrative of the Ukraine conflict, releasing a video in which they ask Ukrainians for forgiveness. …read more Source: Radio Free Europe / Radio...

Clashes appeared only to have increased since a peace agreement with European leaders was sealed Thursday in Minsk. On Friday in eastern Ukraine Russian-backed separatists mounted a major, sustained offensive to capture a strategic railway hub, killing at least 25 people across region. …read more Source: Christian Science...

WASHINGTON — His secretary of defense says “the world is exploding all over.” His attorney general says that the threat of terror “keeps me up at night.” The world bears them out. On Tuesday, American hostage Kayla Mueller is confirmed dead. On Wednesday, the U.S. evacuates its embassy in Yemen, cited by President Barack Obama last September as...